Jarden Corp

Morgan Stanley said it might be able to recover e-mails related to its role in the Wall Street stock research scandal and other legal issues that it previously said had been destroyed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Consumer goods maker Jarden Corp. said Wednesday that it would acquire K2 Inc. for $765 million to expand its line of outdoor products. Rye, N.Y.-based Jarden's line of consumer products includes items as varied as playing cards, plastic cutlery, camping gear and coffee makers. The company will pay $15.50 in cash and stock for each K2 share, which represents a 23% premium to K2's closing price Tuesday. Among Carlsbad, Calif.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut prices on small appliances including microwaves and coffee makers Friday, the latest in a series of markdowns aimed at luring customers during the vital holiday shopping period. The world's biggest retailer, which had lowered prices on key toys and electronics, also said it would offer "special values" on a holiday collection from its trendy Metro 7 clothing line, which posted sluggish sales in recent month.

Former Vice President Dan Quayle and ex-Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz are joining with the chief executive of K2 Inc. in a bid to raise as much as $500 million in the second-largest initial public offering of a "blank check" shell company. Palm Desert-based Heckmann Corp., which has no operations, plans to sell 62.5 million units for $8 each, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday.

Consumer products company Jarden Corp. said Monday that it would buy privately held American Household Inc. for $745.6 million, adding Mr. Coffee and an array of other housewares to its product line. Boca Raton, Fla.-based American Household is a successor to appliance maker Sunbeam Products Inc., which changed its name two years ago as it distanced itself from a troubled past that saw it slide into bankruptcy protection under former Chief Executive Al Dunlap.

Question: I am so disappointed with my shares of OfficeMax Inc. Is there any hope for the future? — B.B., via the Internet Answer: This office-supplies retailer, which trails Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc. in the sector, has been reducing expenses while expanding its product assortment and sales channels. It has begun selling Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook reading devices and added online sales of Lenovo computers. It also has formed partnerships with grocers Safeway and Food Lion and made an alliance with the office supplier Lyreco to expand its global reach.

Burger King is giving the public a bit of a closer look at its reinvention strategy with its decision to trade its shares publicly again. The hamburger giant said it would become a public company and relist its shares on the New York Stock Exchange within three months. The last time Burger King traded publicly was in 2010, when investment firm 3G Capital took it private for $3.3 billion. In a complex $1.4-billion deal, 3G said late Tuesday that it was selling a 29% stake in the Miami fast-food chain to Justice Holdings, a London acquisition company.

For Marlene Baroli-Turati, life has become an obsession with sugar and fruit. After working two decades as a project manager for Boeing Co., she was laid off during a round of recession-fueled cutbacks in 2008. "I had always made jams and jellies as gifts," said Baroli-Turati, 44, who lives in Lake Forest and launched a line of preserves under the brand name DaSweetZpot. She sells the products online store on Etsy.com and at area food festivals and trade shows. "I figured, why not start making them as a business?"

The hot tub business is in the tank. About 60 spa manufacturers have closed over the last six years and experts say sales have dropped by as much as two-thirds over the same period. But at a time when its competitors are pulling back and trying to diversify, a Pomona company is hoping to stave off the continuing decline by gambling on a well-known name. Hot tub manufacturer LMS Inc. has paid an undisclosed amount of money for the right to make free-standing spas under the name of the popular outdoor supply company Coleman.